Effective data communications are critical for systems attempting to transport information from one point to another. The ability to communicate information while maintaining the integrity and the accuracy of associated data is a significant challenge in many communications environments, including video applications associated with image data propagation. Effective image data communications may form the basis for image quality at a receiving end of a system. Image quality is generally of prime importance in video applications and may represent the performance parameter that most often controls system characteristics and corresponding results.
Where image data is transported without processing, the image data should be generally the same at both source and destination points or nodes. In cases where the image data receives some processing, the original image data should be recoverable at any number of points downstream of the source that originally communicated the image data. Such an objective may be difficult where image data is transported through noisy channels or through poorly functioning components that compromise the integrity of the data or corrupt the transmission of the propagating data. Some deficiencies may be expected or normal, however these errors, glitches, or other defects found in the image data should still be kept to a minimum. Deficiencies in data propagation can cause a number of problems in video environments, most of which may generally result in inadequate image quality caused by faulty data propagation techniques or substandard communication architectures.